It's Your Boy
by SAWF
Summary: Claire fought to the top of the chain in Alola. She sees no reason why she has to put up with her Pokemon trying to get her to express her feelings for Guzma. (Obligatory ship fic for my Moon MC and Guzma. Rated T for rude language, mentions of child abuse, and potentially sexual themes. SPOILERS FOR SUN AND MOON/ULTRA SUN AND ULTRA MOON.)
1. Disclaimers and Updates

So, first things first. **MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SUN AND MOON (And now also the Ultra versions)**. If you haven't played the game or don't want spoilers for whatever reason, turn back now.

The other things aren't necessary for you to read.

First out of the secondary things you need to know: while my character, Claire, thinks a lot, she can't actually talk to people. I'm trying to keep it a silent protagonist. She can talk to Pokemon with whom she's grown a connection. I also planned for some twists in her past.

Second, the post game can be interpreted in many different ways, mostly the things with Guzma's house. The way I portrayed them is just how I saw it, it's not confirmed.

Third, this takes place in what I like to call, the anime version of the game. This is where most of the things from the game apply, but some things in the anime apply.

Fourth, I really enjoy writing this, but I have school, family, and so on. The first few chapters should be out within reasonable times, but I don't have a specific schedule for chapters.

Fifth, I am constantly rereading and trying to fix the problems with this story. Reviews are very much encouraged, whether they be criticism, alerting me of typos, or anything else, really.

Other than that, enjoy the story.


	2. Chapter 1

The house on Route 2... I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. At least, not at first, when I was just about to start my island challenge. The man inside talked about trying to set his child straight and his child leaving. He seemed quite bitter. It made me uncomfortable. There were pictures all over the wall that I didn't really pay attention to. After talking to that man, I was actually scared to go near the door at the far side of the room.

In trying to avoid looking at the door, a bag of golf clubs caught my attention. Those golf clubs seemed out of place. They gave off the feeling that they hadn't been used in a long time, and were in a state of complete disrepair. I don't know why I didn't notice it, but the damage done to those golf clubs couldn't have been just from golf. It struck me now, as I was visiting the house again, much later.

I entered the house, unsure if I knew the people inside personally. As I had become the first Champion of Alola, I had met so many people and didn't remember who lived where. I was hoping to find a friend I hadn't seen for a while. I knocked on the door and heard a somewhat familiar voice say, "Come in." When I stepped in I saw Guzma facing away from the door. His jacket looked different. The Team Skull logo had been crossed out.

At this point I was second guessing my choice of clothing. It was a knock off Team Skull uniform I had thrown together from the tank a few grunts sold me when I visited Po Town, some white shorts, shoes, a white mailbag, and a black hat. I desperately wanted to turn and leave, before the man standing to the left of the room cleared his throat, presumably to get Guzma's attention.

I made the connection that this guy was the one who told me to come in and the man that I had talked to before. Guzma's head shot in the man's direction. Then he seemed to notice I was right there. I noticed that his Skull chain was gone as well as his tattoos and his glasses were rounded on each side. He turned to face me and seemed to bend his head just over mine. I'm pretty sure this was an intimidation tactic and damn did it work.

"You little brat!" He always seemed to be holding himself back from smashing my head into the wall. "I don't know what you think you're doing here, but I actually needed to talk to you." I gulped. A chill went down my spine whenever he got angry like this, although, he seemed to be struggling to decide what to say. "Get your rear over to the Hau'oli City Beachfront!" Then he just left, without saying a word to me or the man watching.

I glanced at the man for a moment, then walked to the far wall. I remebered what he had said about setting his son straight. I needed some confirmation of my suspicions. There, on the wall, were pictures of a boy who certainly looked like Guzma, only he was probably at least 11 or 12 when the pictures were taken. He was smiling and holding an Island Challenge Amulet. His glasses looked like they did now. I looked over at the door slightly to the right. I could hear someone talking quietly to herself. I knocked on the door. "Come in.", I heard a woman say.

I opened the door and the woman turned around. She seemed suprised. "Welcome to...", she paused for what seemed to be an unusual amount of time. "I'm sorry, but... are you Claire?" I nodded. "I thought you must be. Guzma has actually come home a few times since... all that." I turned my head in confusion, but she didn't seem to pay much attention to that. "And he told me to give you this if you ever came by." She held out the TM she was holding at her side. I took it. It seemed to be the TM for Swagger. "It was always one of his favorite TMs. He won so many trophies when he entered battle competitions with the Pokemon that he'd taught to use Swagger." I looked up at her. She turned to look the trophies that were on a nightstand next to what could only be his bed.

A tear seemed to be forming in her eye. "I know that there were a lot of rumors flying around saying that our Guzma was up to no good and doing terrible things... but I know it was all just lies." I also started to feel a tear well up in my eye. I looked at the TM and put it away in my bag. I wouldn't have been able to bring myself to tell her the rumors were true. She might not even believe me, anyway. I waved to her, even though she wasn't looking and left Guzma's room. I walked out of the house without paying any more attention to Guzma's so-called father.


	3. Chapter 2

I rushed to the Pokemon Center to heal my team before I fought Guzma. I glanced at the clothing store, debating whether I should change into different clothes. He hadn't noticed or at least didn't seem to care at all that I was wearing Team Skull clothes before. I decided it was safe enough to keep these clothes on by the time I got to the Pokemon Center.

I healed my team, explained to them that we were going to fight Guzma and his team and fed them some Poke Beans to mentally prepare them. The moon seemed brighter than usual. I guess Nebby wanted to keep an eye on me since I put her into the PC before this battle. I walked to the Hau'oli City Beachfront.

Guzma was standing there, seemingly staring at the wall. I didn't really want to battle him. I felt bad for him. Was he trying to prove himself somehow? I wasn't sure if I should actually try to beat him, but maybe he needed a loss. I might as well have tried.

Of course, I wasn't going to use my Z-Ring. That was a rule I created for myself the first time I met Guzma. I was always unreasonably worried about him thinking it was unfair. I never understood why I was worried, but it didn't matter too much, considering I always beat him anyway.

I walked up to him and he looked over his shoulder. "So you showed up..." He turned toward me. "Well, Claire, it's time to battle your boy!" I nodded, the adrenaline rushing through me already. "This is to make up for when I had to disband Team Skull!" I didn't understand this. No one told him to break up Team Skull. At least, I know I didn't. He crossef his arms and continued talking. "Just so you know, I'll never change! Wanna see what destruction looks like? Here it is in human form-it's your boy Guzma!"

 ** _(Skipable battle scene)_**

I stepped back to give our Pokemon room to battle. Guzma sent his Golisopod out. I looked down at the Poke Ball in my hand, and then threw it to send out Roar, my Decidueye. Roar read my mind and was ready to use Spirit Shackle, but Golisopod used First Impression. Roar faltered, but was able to use the move. Golisopod rereated into it's Poke Ball and Guzma sent out his Masquerain. I wasn't quite willing to risk Roar fainting yet, so I instead sent out my Alolan Persian, Nyaro. Masquerain was ready to use Ice Beam before it could take orders for a different move. Nyaro was even able to dodge it and used Power Gem, effectively knocking the Masquerain out. I brought Nyaro back and selected Chukyu, my Mimikyu to go out next. Scizor was Guzma's next Pokemon. Scizor used Night Slash, as Guzma probably knew that this move wouldn't matter too much. Chukyu's disguise broke and she used Play Rough. Scizor wasn't quite done yet, as it used X-Scissor, almost making Chukyu faint. She, however, was able to pull a Shadow Claw to knock out Scizor. I brought out my Lycanroc, and Guzma sent out his Pinsir. I got worried and switched Lycan for Bo, my Marowak. Pinsir was trying to use Storm Throw, but it didn't work. Bo then launched into a Flame Charge. Pinsir didn't stand a chance. I brought Bo back and sent out Marina, my Toxapex. Guzma sent out his Ariados. Ariados used Sucker Punch, but Marina didn't seem to care much and used Ice Beam. Ariados avoided the attack. This time, Marina was able to attack first and used Ice Beam. Ariados fainted. I sent Roar out again and Guzma sent Golisopod out again. Golisopod used Sucker Punch. I was worried about Roar, but she seemed to hang on for me. She used Spirit Shackle and Golisopod fainted.

 _ **(Skippable battle end)**_

Guzma withdrew Golisopod and I did the same for Roar. Guzma held the Ultra Ball and stared at it. He looked at me with a strange, somewhat confused expression, and continued to say, "You again? How come I can't crush you?!" He took a breath, put his arms down, then suddenly clasped the sides of his head and screamed "Guzma! What is wrong with you?!", as he seemed to do everytime we battled. As his hands went back to his hips he continued, "This outcome hasn't changed at all either!"

I turned and saw Hala was walking over. I must've been tearing up as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him. "Well played, Claire!" He gave me a comforting smile, then looked up as Guzma started talking.

"You came all the way here just to watch me lose, huh? Must be nice to be a lazy old island kahuna with nothing better to do..." Guzma was looking at me, likely wondering how I still could have beaten him. Once Hala started talking again, he looked in his direction. I could feel a tear actually roll down my cheek.

"What a high opinion of yourself you have. Ha!" Hala said, lifting his hand off of my shoulder. "I just happened to see Claire here, so I thought I'd come over." He waved his hand in a somewhat dismissive manner.

Guzma seemed to be getting aggravated. "You wanna get beat down, old man?"

"Oh Guzma... when will you understand?" This certainly wasn't making Guzma any less infuriated. "Only when you respect your opponent's skill will it bring out the best in you." By this point, Guzma started to seem more impatient than livid. "You miss the true meaning of battling. The goal is not to beat your opponent down, but for both trainers to grow stronger!"

Guzma rolled his eyes and nearly straightened his back, probably trying to intimidate Hala. It wouldn't have worked. "I don't care what you say to me, yo. Beating people down is all I know!" By this point I had about stopped crying.

Then, of course, it was Hala's turn to speak again. "But the battle I saw seemed a bit different." What was I missing that Hala saw? I replayed bits of the battle in my mind, then Hala continued. "While you may say you're only interested in crushing your opponent, I sensed a desire to defeat Claire deep in your heart."

"What do you know, old man?!" Guzma turned away from Hala. His anger was resurfacing, as was my remorse and sorrow for Guzma's past. I was able to keep the tears from overflowing from my eyes.

"If you continue down this path, you'll never be able to defeat Claire!" I simultaneously hated and appreciated this comment, for no reason that was obvious to me. "Guzma, admit the worthiness of your opponents! Only then can you beome even stronger than you already are! Allow yourself to know the people and Pokemon you encounter, and look deeply into your heart."

Guzma clearly wasn't buying this. At least, not that easily. "You're still trying to front like you're my master, huh? I gave up on you a long time ago." This was new. I guess I never really thought that Hala would have tried to help him. Of course, this new information just made this situation a bit more sad.

"Claire, allow me to handle this foolish young man. I will make a fine Trainer out of him yet, or I'm not an island kahuna!" Hala seemed to be almost laughing when he said that. Then he patted my shoulder again. "I hope that can be considered penance for the wrongs he and Team Skull have committed." Luckily, they never seemed to notice the knockoff Team Skull uniform I was still wearing. Guzma made a dissapproving "Tch" sound and turned his head further away from our direction. Hala didn't seem to mind it at all, in fact laughing and saying, "The two of us will go many places together! And we will meet more people and pokemon who will enrich our lives." Then he left.

Guzma sighed heavily and said somewhat reminiscently, "Master..." He turned to me, seeming slightly less angry than before. "I ain't never gonna ask you to forgive me, so don't get it twisted-this is no apology!" I looked at him, slightly confused, the tears having finally subsided, and he reached into a pocket Inside of his sweater. "But shut up and take this! I got it for my first ever victory, and it's always been like my lucky charm!" He gave me a Dawn Stone, which I looked at for a bit. "Who knows what the Alolan winds will bring? Next time we meet, I'm counting on you to test how strong I've gotten."

 ** _(Initiate_ actual _shipping)_**

He walked toward the stairs, but stopped next to me for a breif moment. I didn't know why he stopped, but the next thing I knew, I had flung myelf into him and was hugging him around the waist. "What the-?" He stood awkwardly and eventually patted my head, probably unsure of what to do. Then he kind of hugged me with one arm. "Hey, stop crying, people might think I did something." I let go of him and wiped the tears off my face. I hadn't even realized them until now. "You better?" He asked. I nodded and gave a somewhat weak smile. "Good, don't need any rumors going around about how I made the Champion of Alola cry." He was looking around to make sure no one was worried for my saftey anymore than they normally would be."Like I said, I'm counting on you to see how strong I've gotten next time." With that he gave me a still suprised and somewhat uncomfortable look. Then he broke all eye contact with me and left.


	4. Chapter 3

After a few days of training and being dissatisfied with what there was left for the Champion of Alola to do, I finally decided to challenge the Battle Tree. More training ensued and eventually I decided to try the Single Battle challenge. Lots of losing, team changes, and more training further ensued. Eventually I was content with my Pyukumuku, Kuyuki, my Xurkitree, Xi-ir, and a Kartana someone traded me for one of the Celesteelas I caught. Finally, I actually made it through the Single Battle challenge.

On my 10th battle in the Super Single Battle challenge, I saw Guzma standing in front of me. He had the look of someone who was having a really good time. I felt myself getting nervous, a happy kind of nervous, I think. He looked at me and seemed to take breif notice of my Skull outfit this time. He looked back at my face, then smiled. "Doesn't matter who I'm up against, I'm gonna beat them down! That's what big bad Guzma is all about!" I almost laughed at this last part. I found it almost endearing when he spoke in the third person. The battle started.

 _ **(Skippable battle)**_

Guzma's first pokemon out was Bisharp, which surprised me slightly. My first pokemon out was Kuyuki. I could see a pained look on Guzma's face, as he probably knew that Pyukumukus generally rely on staying out for as long as possible. Bisharp tried to use Sucker Punch, which didn't work, as Kuyuki used Soak, drenching Bisharp in water. Kuyuki's next instruction was to use Swagger, and the Bisharp was stil trying to continuously use Sucker Punch. Bisharp became confused and fell down, hurting itself. Kuyuki then used Toxic. It wasn't long before the Bisharp fainted. Toxicroak was the next Pokemon on Guzma's side. It used Cross Chop, immediately knocking Kuyuki out. Innards Out activated and Toxicroak was hurt. I sent my Kartana and it used Psycho Cutter. Toxicroak fainted. Next was Toxipex. Kartana used Psycho Cutter again, and the Toxipex fainted.

 _ **(Skippable battle end)**_

We withdrew our pokemon. Guzma gave me that same confused look from before, that still did not seem to fit what he was saying. "I guess that's how it is, Champion! But I'm not beat down yet!" Our Pokemon were healed. The receptionist asked what I wanted to do next. I looked over at Guzma, who was waiting patiently to leave, and was looking at the knock off Skull uniform again. I turned to the receptionist and put up four fingers. This was my way of saying that I wanted to scout. When she asked me if it was really okay to pay 10BP to scout, I nodded right away. It wasn't like I'd use those BP for much else. I had plenty by this point, anyway.

Guzma stepped aside to leave. I looked at him for a breif moment. Every time I saw him he seemed to be taller than the last I had seen of him. This was likely just because I'm a very short person. In fact, everyone had been under the impression that I was 11.

Despite my thoughts wandering, I had made it to 20 battles before being defeated by Wally, from Hoenn. After that, when I got to the bottom of the tree, I saw Guzma. He was standing off by the shop area, grooming his Pokemon. I somehow decided it'd be a good idea to go over to him to "talk". I stood next to him and he continued grooming his Golisopod until he noticed me there. My Decidueye, Roar was next to me the entire time.

"Yo, what are you doing?" He asked. I shrugged and looked at Golisopod, smiling. He seemed to smile back, then Guzma said something again. "So you're still wearing that stupid uniform?" His tone seemed to completely change.

I looked down at my clothes, even though I knew exactly what I was wearing. I then looked up at him and nodded. Roar glanced at Golisopod, who shrugged.

Guzma seemed to groan a little and said, "Take it off." Then he realized what he had just said. "No, I don't mean right now!"

My face was getting red. I knew what he was trying to say, but what he really said was so sudden. Golisopod and Roar seemed to chuckle a bit.

Guzma sighed. "Ugh. Yo, listen up. I'm not exactly happy about breaking up Team Skull. You could've been a great member! But you ain't and you can't be, so stop dressing like it. Especially if we're gonna fight together." He explained this to me in a calmer tone.

I nodded, my face still red. We just kind of looked at each other before Roar seemed to laugh and explain something to Golisopod, who laughed in response and nodded. "Hey, what are you laughing at?" Guzma asked Golisopod. I was afraid I knew exactly what Roar was saying. I turned to her and glared. Her laugh was subsiding a bit.

I waved goodbye to Guzma and brought Roar back into her pokeball so I could use Charizard Glide. I went to change into different clothes. The only thing I really wanted to do was beat the Battle Tree, and if I battled alongside Guzma, the chances of beating the Multi Battle Challenge were pretty high.

I changed into green shorts, a plain black shirt, black shoes, kept the black hat, and moved everything into a black bag. I would have worn less black, but I could never find any red clothes, other than a Focus Sash I now wore like a bracelet. Either way, the change seemed drastic enough from the previous oufit. I immediately flew back to the Battle Tree.

Guzma was still there, now grooming his Bisharp. I went to the receptionist and eventually it was set that I would be battling in the Multi Battle challenge with Guzma. He walked over from the place he was previously and looked at me. "Heh, I like the looks of this! If it's you and me, we can beat anyone down!" This proved to be true for the first 6 battles we fought, until we lost.

Bisharp and Kartana were really fast and one hit KO'd most of the pokemon we fought against. At one point I sent in Xi-ir, and Guzma seemed to notice the Dawn Stone Xi-ir had wrapped around one of its wires by a string. Xi-ir knocked outt the last Pokemon in that battle with ease. Unfortunately, it was the battle after that we lost. Earthquake was the worst move ever in my opinion. Xi-ir can't take an Earthquake to save its life.

We walked down the tree and Guzma smiled and chuckled a bit. I was worried that he'd yell at himself like he always did, but instead he sighed and said, "Yeah, when it comes to you and me, we're best at wrecking each other!" I smiled a little at this and pointed to the entrance to the Tree. "Really? You wanna try again?" He asked. I nodded and he laughed again. "It's pretty fun beating people down with your boy, huh?" I nodded. "Alright, let's get to beating."

There were so many times where we had only one pokemon out and Toxapex or Xi-ir saved the day. We were having so much fun, and even occasionally laughed at how dumb some of the battlers seemed to be. I tried not to, but I couldn't help it sometimes. This time we had made it to about 17 wins before we were beat by Earthquake again.

By this point, the sky was starting to brighten up. I was getting tired. Guzma didn't seem to be getting tired at all, though.

"Yo, you wanna keep trying?" He asked. Man, was he getting into this. I yawned, almost in response to his question. "Oh, yeah. You need sleep, huh kid?" I nodded. "Alright. Let me know next you wanna battle with your boy." I waved to him and he waved back. We smiled at each other briefly and I activated Charizard Glide.


	5. Chapter 4

Charizard brought me home. I stepped into the house, hugged Mom, patted Meowth on the head, and ran into my room. Once inside, I brought Roar out to talk to her about her exchange with Golisopod. What I gathered from our mostly telepathic conversation was that Roar realized I was starting to develop a crush on Guzma all the way back in Po Town. Of course, he was a bigger jerk then, so since he's a bit of a better person now, it seemed like a good time to let Guzma's Pokemon know of my crush now. Golisopod was apparently okay with this, and said I might have a chance.

I made sure to let Roar know that I'd appreciate her not trying to help too much. I couldn't lie and say I didn't appreciate some help, but it was probably not a great idea.

I took my bag off and let myself fall onto my bed. I crawled under the covers and motioned Roar to turn off the lights. I heard the click of the lights and the sound of Roar retreating into her ball.

When I woke up I let Roar out of her pokeball. She yawned. I slung the bag onto my shoulder and exited my room, with Roar following me. I stepped out onto the balcony to see Mom basking in the moonlight. Meowth was standing next to her.

"Good morning sweetie. It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" I nodded, then the doorbell rang. "I wonder who that could be. Could you answer the door, Claire?"

I nodded and stepped into the living room. Then, who else would burst in, but Hau. "Alola, Claire. Grandpa said he wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, hello Hau." Mom said, entering the living room.

"Evening, Auntie. I hope you don't mind me taking Claire for a while."

"Of course not. You go on and see Hala. Tell him I said Alola." Mom smiled. I hugged her and headed for the door.

"I will, bye." Hau waved and we left for Iki Town.

Ro-Dex flew out of my bag. He and Hau started talking about lots of different things like malasadas, certain pokemon I had caught that Hau hadn't and vice-versa, and Hau's training of Team Reskull, as the former members of Team Skull were calling themselves. Ro-Dex retreated into my bag once we got to Iki Town.

Hala was keeping an eye on the Reskull guys, who were staring intensley at the sky, until he noticed us and walked over. "Good evening, Claire. I see Guzma's been battling alongside you. What do you think? Did I make him into a fine Trainer?" I nodded and Hala laughed.

Guzma had been leaning against the wall of Hala's house. "Hey, I didn't need your help to become a better Trainer, old man." He said, walking over. "Yo, Champ." He said, simply to acknowledge I was there.

"Guzma, how would you like to take your island challenge again?" Hala asked. This seemed rather off-topic.

"Nah, I think the Battle Tree's fine." Guzma shrugged. "Besides, why eventually fight against the Champion of Alola, when it's so much more fun to fight with Claire?" He smiled at me. Roar nudged me in the shoulder, only for me to ignore her.

"I see. So you've decided." Hala nodded to himself. "But what about when you finish the Battle Tree?" What exactly was Hala trying to get at?

"I don't know. Yo Claire, how about you? What are you going to do after the Battle Tree?" Guzma looked at me. He seemed desperate to get out of this conversation all of a sudden. There was a moment of silence as I stared blankly at him.

"Hey, Claire's the Champion, so she'll be defending her title." Hau butted in. Oh, that's right, I'm the Champion.

"Exactly, Hau." Hala said. "So, Guzma, I advise you to make a plan for after you finish the Battle Tree." I crossed my arms and turned my head at Hala.

"Sure thing, old man." He turned dismissively. "So, Claire. Are you headed to the Battle Tree, or didya have other plans for today?"

I nodded. Then saw the confused look on his face. That wasn't a yes or no question. I pointed to a nearby tree. He seemed to get it.

"Alright, see you there, kid." Guzma turned to the others, probably waiting for Hala to say something. When nothing was said he turned back to me, smiled, and left. I could hear Roar chuckling. She gave me a thumbs up with her feathers and seemed to be saying "Nice save". I patted her on the head a few times. The last pat was a bit harder than normal.

 _ **(Skippable revealing crush to friends scene)**_

"Hey, Claire. Are you okay? Is the heat getting to you?" Hau asked.

I felt my face, which was hot and probably looked really red. Roar reached out to touch my face and pretended to recoil as if it had burnt her. Then she started laughing again. I could've sworn her nature was Serious.

Hala started laughing as well. "I see how your heart feels. Well, I hope you've thought your feelings through. Either way, the heart wants what it wants."

Hau seemed confused. "What? What do you mean? Wait..." He thought for a moment. "Nope, still don't get it."

Ro-Dex popped out of my bag. I turned to Roar, whose face went serious as she outstretched her wing for me to hide under in shame. I gladly did this as Ro-Dex started to explain.

"Zzz-zzz-zzzt! That'zzz right ladiezzz and gentlemen! The secret of our dear Claire izzz out!" I screamed in my head. "She'zzz in lo-o-o-ove! She'zzz in lo-o-o-ove!" Ugh.

"What? With who!?" Hau asked.

I was so thankful that Ro-Dex never did this when we were around Guzma. I buried my face into Roar's feathers, screaming inaudibly in embarrassment.

"With who elzzze? It'zzz your boy Guzzzma!" It's not as cute when anyone other than Guzma does that. I started to emerge from under Roar's wing.

"What? But he's, like, 30, and she's 11!" Hau said, not able to wrap his head around any of this.

Hala shook his head. "Claire is actually about to turn 20 soon, and I'd say Guzma is probably in his early 20s."

"What!?" Hau seemed even more shocked. Any more and he might explode.

I marched toward Ro-Dex, who turned and likely saw my burning red face. "Well, I think Claire'zzz had enough. We'd better get going, zzt!" With that, he retreated into my bag. I brought Roar back into her pokeball, called Charizard, and waved to Hau and Hala.

 _ **(Skippable revealing crush to friends scene end)**_

I needed to cool down after Ro-Dex's madness, so I had Charizard bring me to the Tapu Village. I needed somewhere quiet to hang out. I entered the Pokemon Center and saw Guzma sitting at the café. He had gotten here fast. My face had cooled at least a bit from the ride here. I was probably fine. I handed my pokeballs to the nurse so she could heal my pokemon.

"Thank you for visiting, Champion. We'll see you next time." The nurse smiled warmly and gave my pokeballs back.

Guzma turned around, hearing this, and saw me. "Yo, Claire!" He waved me over. I walked over and kept a hand on my bag, hopefully keeping Ro-Dex from bursting out. I ordered a Tapu Cocoa. Guzma seemed to be thinking about something very hard. His eyes shifted all over the place until they landed on my hand that was on the table. "Y'know, Hala thinks that I needed his help to be a better Trainer, but I don't think it was him." He looked at the table for a second, then looked back toward me. "Nah, I think it might have been you."

I looked at him and cocked my head to the side. My drink arrived.

He looked down at his drink. "Heh heh. Yeah, I know it sounds stupid. Don't get me wrong, I'm still not apologizing for anything, but I guess I can thank you. You showed me a good time, and it was great! I think my pokemon enjoyed it too." He took a sip of his drink.

I could feel my face getting progressively warmer as he talked. I looked down at my cocoa and then started chugging it down. It almost burnt the entirety of my mouth.

Guzma didn't seem to have been expecting that. "Woah, cool it! Your face is getting all red now."

I felt my bag rustling and put a hand on it. I shrugged, as if to say I didn't care.

He breathed, what I guess must've been a sigh of relief. "Well, I'm ready to go. I'll see you at the Tree, Champ." He got up and left.

I ordered a Moomoo Milk and allowed Ro-Dex to pop out of my bag. "Zzz-zzt! Now we know! He appreciates you! Just a HOP-pip, SKIP-loom, and a JUMP-luff away and you've got the guy!"

I shook my head in embarrassment. My Moomoo Milk arrived. I drank it down, hoping it'd help me cool down.

Ro-Dex was spinning in the air, happily humming that song he was singing earlier. I could hear the man behind the counter chuckling.

"Zzt! So, are we going or what?" I nodded, and paid the man for my drinks. Ro-Dex went back into my bag and Charizard flew me to the Battle Tree.


	6. Chapter 5

Ah, the Battle Tree. This place was starting to feel like home. Charizard dropped me off and I immediately walked toward the entrance. Guzma was standing there and I walked over to him.

"Hey, Claire. I got us set up. You ready?" He asked me. I nodded.

I showed the receptionist that I was using Xi-ir and Kartana. She let us through and we began our battling.

Bisharp and Kartana were still doing really well at just anhialating other pokemon. We made it to 17 wins again this time. It was a Noivern that we ultimately failed against. It wasn't great.

We walked to the bottom of the Tree. "Hey, what's the deal with your Xurkitree?" Guzma asked. I shrugged at him with a confused look. I didn't get it. "I mean, why did you give it a Dawn Stone?" I shrugged again, nervously smiling.

We got to the bottom of the tree and I walked off to the side. I brought Xi-ir out. It towered above me. I motioned it to bring it's head down near me. I walked to the white light closest to Xi-ir's head on its left 'arm' and untied the Dawn Stone that was there. It was watching me as I did this. I could feel it was a bit worried. I walked to its head and tried to speak telepathically to it. That didn't work. As I was trying, Guzma walked over and looked at the Dawn Stone.

"I was right, this is my Dawn Stone! But why does this thing hold it?" He asked.

I shrugged and patted Xi-ir on the head. Then it nudged my arm with one of its copper 'hands'. It was trying to get to the Dawn Stone. I handed the stone to Xi-ir, and it stood up and stared at the rock for a minute. It gave the rock back and leaned down for me to tie the stone back onto the wire. I wrapped it around the bottom of the light, then walked back to its head to feed it some Poke Beans.

"So, it just really likes the Dawn Stone?" Guzma asked. I nodded. "Do you even know why?" I shook my head. "Huh. Take care of that, okay buddy? That's Claire's now, and it was mine, so you better not break it." Guzma told Xi-ir, receiving what I could only guess was a nod of agreement. This got a confused reaction out of Guzma, which didn't seem to make much sense.

It was impossible to tell whether Xi-ir understood English, or any human language. I knew I couldn't speak telepathically with it yet, the most I could get was general emotions it felt, but it seemed to understand Guzma in some way.

"Guess we better get back to battling, huh?" Guzma asked. I shook my head this time. "Oh, you got something else to do. Alright. See you next time, Claire." He waved and I waved back.

I called Charizard and it brought me to Mount Lanakila. I brought Roar out as I walked into the Pokemon Center.

 **"So, how'd it go?"** Roar asked.

 _"We lost again."_ I answered as we walked to the cafe.

"Hello, miss. What would you and your Decidueye like?" The man behind the counter asked. I ordered two Roserade Teas.

 **"You didn't try to tell him at all?"** She asked.

 _"Hell no."_ I answered. My mindvoice was somehow deadpan.

"Here you are, ladies." The man placed our drinks in front of us. I smiled at him, gave a thumbs up, then my face went expressionless as I waited for Roar to say something.

 **"Do you plan on it?"** She held her cup in full meme material mode.

 _"I'll have to write it down to tell him."_ I said, taking a sip of my drink.

 **"Yeah, that sounds reasonable."** Roar shrugged and started drinking her tea.

 _"What else coukd I do? Make a heart with my hands and hope he connects the dots?"_ I asked.

 **"That's probably the only other thing you could do. Other than straight up kiss him, and I know you wouldn't do that."** She laughed.

 _"Damn right I wouldn't!"_ I laughed. _"I totally would if I was, you know, stupid."_

 **"Yeah, and you wish you were, too, huh?"** She laughed, this time outloud.

 _"I can't hide anything from_ _you."_ She and I laughed for a bit.

Once both of us finished our tea, we headed to the Pokemon League to defend my title, which, by this point, was not hard. No one said anything of interest, necessarily, and I battled with Plumeria at the top. She seemed to be doing pretty well. She got a Z-ring and everything. I wondered if Guzma had talked to her at all since Team Skull broke up. I would've talked to her, but she seemed to have better things to do. Either way, my title was defended.

Charizard brought me home. I walked into my house and saw mom cooking lunch. I went into my room and Roar followed. She must've gotten out of her pokeball herself this time. There everything was, exactly the same as when I first started my adventure. You would think that I would have unpacked everything by now. I looked inside the box next to my bed. There, somewhat scuffed up, was the empty journal my dad left me with before this whole thing started.

 **"Unova, huh?"** Roar asked.

 _"Yep. It's almost been nine whole years."_ I let out a silent sigh.

We ate lunch and I rushed back to the Battle Tree. I found a nice area in front of a wall to sit in and compose my confession. Roar sat next to me and talked to Ro-Dex.

"Hey there. Hope you don't mind me askin' what you're writing." Guzma tried to look at the notebook.

I pulled it closer into my body and finished writing the last sentence. I held the book out to him, but only after shoving Ro-Dex into my bag. Roar retreated into her pokeball and I suddenly felt so alone. I buried my face into my hands and waited for Guzma's response.


End file.
